In recent years there has been a consistent and gaining effort to establish a so-called "cashless society". One aspect of that effort has involved a steady increase in the use of personal devices, usually in the form of cards, to authorize or support various significant transactions. For example, cards are widely used as identification cards and transaction cards as employed for credit cards, debit cards, cash cards, value cards, and banking cards. Classifications and definitions are sometimes ambiguous and volatile.
Although various card structures have been proposed in the past, along with various forms of processing systems, a need continues to exist for a reliable, economical, and practical transaction card along with a similarly effective system for processing such cards and regulating their use.
Many forms of transaction cards are used in environments where some opportunity exists to visually inspect the cards at the time of their use. For such applications, the requirements of an anti-counterfeitable card are rather different than those applications for a card where there is no opportunity for visual inspection, as in the case of automatic teller machines.
It has been proposed to verify a card by testing its translucency, as described in the specification of a U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,415 which was co-pending herewith, entitled "Non-Counterfeitable Document System". Under certain circumstances it may be feasible to make a counterfeit document to form signals similar to those of a genuine document, and thus perpetuate fraud. Essentially, such a fraud is easier to accomplish if the counterfeit document need not pass a visual inspection. Consequently, in applications as automatic-teller machines (cash dispensers) where transaction cards are not visually inspected, another dimension is added to the problem of detecting counterfeit cards. Accordingly, a need exists for an effective non-counterfeitable transaction card, the signals from which cannot be practically simulated for use in applications that do not necessarily involve visual inspection of the cards.
The card-related processing system of the present invention is based on recognition that transaction cards have three major vulnerabilities: the card might be the target of counterfeit efforts; the user of the card may not be the assigned user; or the card may be used in excess of the limits stipulated by the issuer.
Even though a transaction card may be genuine (not counterfeit) it might be mis-used by an unauthorized person. For example, the card presented to support a transaction may have been stolen or lost with the consequence that a resulting transaction will likely involve a loss.
Also, even though a card is genuine and is presented by the assigned user, there remains some risk that the user may exceed the level of his financial abilities. For example, an assigned card holder may experience financial reverses or other catastrophic circumstances which impact upon his financial situation and cause him to become irresponsible. Accordingly, a need exists to monitor the use of a transaction card and thereby limit exposure to the card-issuing entity.
In general, the present invention is based on recognizing the above considerations and implementing cooperative elements to afford an effective, economical, and practical transaction card for use in combination with an effective card processing system. Particular concern is with cards that are contemplated for use without visual inspection.
The disclosed embodiment, in accordance with the present invention, incorporates a card in sheet form, with a reference medium having a random variable pattern to modulate a beam of light applied to the sheet as when the beam scans an area of the sheet. The light beam so modulated generates a pattern unique to each specific card. The pattern is quantized and converted to a digital representation. This representation is recorded on the card in a machine-readable form along with other machine-readable data specifically including a personal identification number for the assigned holder of the card and a time-related use limitation imposed on the card to support transactions. With such information, the system tests the related criteria to determine the acceptability of the card for a specified transaction. In a network configuration, the system may distribute authorization processing. The system also incorporates elements for refreshing the card after an acceptable use.
As disclosed in detail below, the card and related system hereof may be variously implemented using different media and different techniques. For example, the card may be constituted of different light-modulating materials (e.g. paper, crystalline film). Also, the record signals on a card may be variously recorded. Additionally, the processing system may be variously implemented for different applications and for various design and policy considerations. Of course, the transaction card may be implemented for different functions including credit cards, debit cards, identification cards, access cards, and decrementing cards.